huiray

• Fresh radiatore w/ tomato sauce & parmesan. Sauce made w/ Japanese Trifele tomatoes. • Blanched Wong Nga Pak (oiled water) dressed w/ ponzu sauce & black pepper. -------------------------------------------- • Bak Kut Teh. Canto-Hoklo herbal variety. Water, meaty pork baby back ribs (cut into individual ribs), two heads of garlic (skins & parchments intact); sliced dried Polygonatum odoratum roots, dried tangerine peel, dried longan flesh, dried Angelica sinensis root slices, dried Codonopsis pilosula roots; a large crushed black cardamom pod; sufficient but generous whole star anise, cassia pieces, whole cloves; light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce; tofu puffs. In that order, more-or-less. The softened garlic heads were squished into the soup towards the end. Simmered till done. • Stir-fried cauliflower florets (from mini-cauliflowers) & scallion pieces. • White rice.

To each his/her own - but along the lines of what Katie said, chili sauce & Worcestershire sauce would not be things I personally would put into a vinaigrette.

Instant Noodles Artificial Pork Ribs Flavor [Dragonfly] w/ Tuscan kale, peppered beef [Claus'], two farm eggs poached in situ, baby Zephyr squash & fried shallots.

Suppose you moved away from trying to sou-vide it and returned to the tried-and-true methods of braising it, while playing around with how that older technique (including velveting techniques) is done? (I can't imagine any Chinese take-out in the USA using sous-vide methods – as you and eG would know it – for their chicken, which you admire, for example) There is much to be said for doing things in a traditional manner as appropriate and not ascribing to the notion that modernist cuisine or sou-vide techniques is the best way for all things nowadays.

If you watch videos of Chinese chefs cooking stuff (professional chefs - e.g. in HK restaurants/hotels & elsewhere) one will often see them adding "wetter" ingredients (e.g. chicken, prawns, etc) to the wok with one hand while holding that large long-handled "sieve" (that is part of the set of implements needed for such wokkery) over the wok and above the prawns/whatever being added in, especially when deep-frying the stuff. (one example: at 2:37 in this video)

Recent dinners. -------------------------------------------- • Shin Black Spicy Pot-au-feu Flavor Noodle Soup [Nongshim] with chopped scallions, shishito peppers & deep-fried sliced shallots. • The remainder of the ground chuck & tofu w/ rice, and harm choy tong from the previous night. -------------------------------------------- • Pressed tongue & coarse Braunschweiger [both from Claus’], semolina bread [Amelia’s], scallions; pickled long Japanese cucumbers w/ wakame & sesame seeds. • Chicken broth (from pastured chicken frames) w/ red carrots (largely leached into the broth) & Chinese celery; plus some sliced ginger & sea salt. -------------------------------------------- • Fish curry. Oil, diced shallots, finely julienned ginger, fresh turmeric finely diced then ground in a mortar & pestle, fresh curry leaves (karuveppilai, கருவேப்பிலை; Murraya koenigii), ground coriander seed & a little ground cumin seed, “green” cardamom pods, a few fresh bay leaves, sea salt, tamarind slurry (from wet seedless paste [Dragonfly] + hot water), palm sugar; water, simmered; hot long red chillies (partly de-seeded) & hot long green chillies, simmered; soft tofu chunks, simmered; very generous trimmed fresh coriander leaves & stems (as intact entire branches) (a whole bunch), monkfish slices, simmered till the fish was just cooked. Served. • Wong Nga Pak (Napa cabbage) stir-fried w/ garlic, salt. • White rice.

mm84321, could you describe this a little more, please? Also, what sort of beans (or other bean-like concoction) would be usable (other than what you actually used) for this?

dcarch, what variety exactly are these green-multihued tomatoes you have? p.s. they look lovely, as usual.

Have you tried adding dried basil to a pot of rice being cooked on the stove top? You might be surprised. Dried basil has its uses and is not devoid of flavor. It depends on how fresh it is, as with most dried herbs. The flavor also often undergoes a change, which should be appreciated on its own terms and not necessarily held as "defective". As for the "Italian Dressing" - I myself might just whip up a vinaigrette of my choosing, of which I assume you would have various formulations too, and just add in finely chopped or minced garlic and thyme and whatnot. I might add some nice Dijon mustard in too, plus some sugar and adjust the vinegar (boost/reduce, as desired) a bit. Maybe add in some hon-mirin in place of the sugar. :-)

Grocery shopping 2014-0830 BRFM: Local wild-harvested chicken-of-the-wood, oyster, chanterelle mushrooms; Green Zebra tomatoes, baby Zephyr squash, Delicata squash, teeny white cauliflowers; angled loofah, old (cracked very brown thick skin) Poona Kheera cucumbers – for soup; Ozette fingerling potatoes; Russian Banana fingerling potatoes; free-range chicken frame/carcass. CFM: Fennel bulb (one of the nicest I’ve seen all season), green & purple Chinese long beans, Dragon Tongue beans, a big Wong Nga Pak (Napa cabbage); Tuscan/Lacinato kale, shiro plums. Asia Mart: Gold Pocky chocolate-covered biscuit sticks, whole white peppercorns, soft tofu blocks, fresh rice noodle (“hor fun” type), fresh turmeric, soy puffs [Nature’s Soy], pickled plums (sweet & sour, bottled in liquid), pickled lemons (bottled in liquid), fresh King Oyster mushrooms, daikon, “Tai Ku Choy” (a form of Tatsoi) (塌菜), fresh chicken wings (middle sections only), fresh ginger, coriander leaves (3 bunches/$1), scallions/green onions (4 bunches @ 2/$1), Chinese celery, Japanese cucumbers (shorter type). Bluebeard/Amelia’s: half a loaf of semolina bread. Claus’ German Sausage & Meats: Pressed tongue, Pepper Beef, coarse Braunschweiger, Frankfurters, calf’s liver, bulk Sauerkraut. Goose the Market: Duck legs, Kenny’s Reserve Asiago cheese, Headwaters Tomme cheese.

Pressed tongue, pepper beef, chunks of Tarentaise & Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, mango nectar, Pocky chocolate covered biscuit sticks.

• Pickled mustard soup. Water, large chicken thigh (all fat & skin left on) chopped up, pickled/salted mustard (see here & here for more info), Japanese Trifele tomatoes sliced up, sea salt, thinly sliced ginger, sour plums (with shiso; shisozuke umeboshi) [Daiei]; some "aged gourmet vinegar" [Kong Yen], jozo-mirin [Morita], and rock sugar. Seasoning corrected and simmered till done, about 1 - 1½ hours. • Crushed tofu & minced beef in sauce. Generous julienned ginger & chopped smashed garlic (Siberian Red) sautéed in vegetable oil, ground chuck added & stirred/tossed around, hoisin sauce [LKK] + Bull-Dog sauce (ウスターソース variety; "Worcestershire sauce") + fish sauce [Red Boat] + ground white pepper added and the mixture stirred, a block of soft tofu (rinsed) crumbled by hand into the pan, stirred/tossed, then lots of chopped scallions, final toss. • White rice.

Chả giò chay. Scallions, Lingham's Hot Sauce.

Fried rice. Duck fat, chopped smashed garlic (Siberian Red), char-siu chopped into small chunks, Chinese long beans (green and purple) chopped into short lengths, sea salt, 3 farm eggs scrambled in situ with a little additional vegetable oil, 2-day-old white rice, Redmond salt, chopped scallions & coriander leaves, thinly-sliced de-seeded hot long red chilli. Pickled Japanese long cucumbers, w/ wakame & toasted sesame seeds.

Just curious, which variety are you referring to?

How about some steamed seafood, like steamed shrimp/prawns or whole fish? Like this, or this (scroll down), or this, or this, or this, or this, or this or other similar ones? :-) Or something like this, or this? p.s. one omits the rice, of course, that is also included in those posts. ETA: You asked for "impressive" dishes - OK, how about a low-carb high-protein dish fit for an Emperor, like this?

What cuisine?

One variety which is RARELY mentioned is the Japanese Trifele tomato, a black variety. A search on eG shows 10 posts, 5 of which are posts by me, 4 by an eG member called 'viva'. It's a lovely and scrumptious variety and should be both cultivated and eaten more widely. ETA: Black Krims are getting rarer and rarer nowadays...pity. I tried to grow them on occasion but never had much success in getting more than a few fruits. Another variety which I used to get (amongst MANY others) from the "Tomato Lady" at my farmers' market but no longer do because she is not there anymore is Amazon Chocolate. Quite a wonderful variety.

I see (and buy) Green Zebra tomatoes quite frequently in my local farmers' market. :-)

Another simple dinner. • Deep-fried soft tofu chunks. Chopped scallions. (The oil was turmeric and shrimp infused, though, from 2 retained batches used previously) • Sautéed zucchini. Garlic (Siberian Red) & salt. • White rice.

Anne_T, thanks for the kind words.

• Leftover chicken, snow fungus & angled loofah soup; with Fuzhou-type thin wheat noodles. • Cauliflower florets & curly kale leaflets stir-fried with garlic, vegetable oil, oyster sauce, light soy sauce & cooking sake.

Soup. Chicken fat chunks, chopped smashed garlic, dark meat chicken pieces, salt, water, rehydrated snow fungus, angled loofahs de-ridged & cut into rounds.

dcarch, what is this beef sauce in your "tofu in beef sauce" dish? Suppose you left the tofu as bigger slices, browned a little more, and some chilli sauce drizzled over the whole thing? :-) ETA: Or, suppose the next time you did this you had a stir-fry or similar of finely sliced beef underlying a corona of rectangular deep-fried tofu slices, with stuff like grated daikon or shaved katsuoboshi or finely chopped scallions plus coriander leaves, or just as-is; or maybe even paired w/ some steamed glutinous rice packages w/ pork & shiitakes? Or the best Ti Guan Yin tea you have on hand? ;-)

Pork belly rice congee w/ preserved mustard stems & soy puffs. Details here. Pull mustard (雪裡紅) stir-fried w/ garlic. (intact young plants look like this)